So I saw some people mention this elsewhere but thought it was something to bring up here as well. It feels like only yesterday that I was picking up my launch day copy of Uncharted 2 and playing through the whole in days.
While there were plenty of games before it that had gotten us excited for the new generation, Uncharted 2 is one of the few that DEFINED it. It's easily one of, if not the best game of the past generation and a timeless classic. It's snappy action gameplay, lovable cast of characters and PLAYABLE set piece levels were ahead of its time and even now many games fail to come close.
The train level is the perfect example for this. The entire level consists of you fighting your way up a moving train hopping from car to car. Fail to clear a jump and off the train you go making this more than just a "moving level". The same holds true for the truck chase level.
And of course this was the first game in the series that added multiplayer. It never truly took off in the scale of games like Killzone or Resistance but it was extremely enjoyable, and in my opinion more fun that either of those other games.
Thinking back to this game has left me nostalgic and I REALLY want to replay it, perhaps we'll be lucky enough to get a remastered edition one day?
How about you guys? What are your experiences with this fantastic game?

Beyond: Two Souls (PS3) $10 + Free In-Store Pickup at Best Buy
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/beyond-two-souls-playstation-3/5720702.p?ref=195&loc=0bdb81d1dda14e79a3a6feae3e3bc700&id=1218686494675
Totally worth it for $10. I thought about holding out for a PS4 version but then it'll cost a lot more.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue may be just for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this year, but come next year, Ubisoft has announced that the title will also be coming to PC.
Fans might remember that Assassin's Creed: Rogue was actually developed for 360 and PS3 so last-generation console owners wouldn't feel left out, but whether it will eventually make its way to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 remains to be seen.
In the meantime, Xbox One and PS4 owners need not fret as they'll be getting their own unique game in the series, Assassin's Creed: Unity, which will be coming out for both in November.
As for Rogue, a new story trailer was released today which highlights its main character, Shay, and how he ended up becoming a templar. You check it out below.
Source: Polygon
Are you looking forward to Assassin's Creed: Rogue coming to PC in 2015?

Developer: Arc System Works
Publisher: Atlus USA
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360
Release Date: September 30, 2014
ESRB: T for Teen
This review is based on the PS3 version of the game
It always seemed strange to me that the teenagers of Persona 3 and Persona 4 who had difficulty standing on their own two feet in turn-based battle have transitioned to full-fledged badasses by the hand of Arc System System Works. Yet, just like that, Persona 4 Arena was that peanut butter & jelly combination that fans of the classic Persona 3 & 4 RPGs did not know they wanted it until the series arrived as a fighter.
As with fighting game tradition, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax serves as both a direct sequel and an enhanced release two years after the original P4A debut. Is it worth it to take another admission to the P-1 Grand Prix or can one only hope that its Dark Hour quickly passes?
Like the original release, Ultimax continues the smart approach of bridging the gap between fans of fighters and those well-versed with the RPGs. The P-1 Grand Prix Tournament returns once again, taking place only a few days after the events in Persona 4 Arena. General Teddie forcibly summons the cast from Persona 3 & 4 to participate in this tournament by enveloping the town of Inaba in a eerie red fog, reminiscent of P3's Dark Hour, and threatens to destroy the world in one hour if they fail to do so.
As you would expect from the storytelling, it is told as a fairly in-depth visual novel, with the occasional fight, and it is dense with callbacks to the RPGs. Just be warned, Ultimax“s plot has a much bigger disregard toward spoilers for both P3/P4. If you haven“t played either of P3/P4 to completion (or at all) you probably should not even consider touching Ultimax“s story until doing so, especially since the RPG stories are way better told.
For as big of a fan as I may be towards P3/P4, I had pretty fundamental problems with the storytelling in the original Persona 4 Arena. This is primarily because of how P4A was written in way that characters from both entries honestly felt like caricatures of themselves, where significant character development from the original games was disregarded and how much time they spent retreading old story devices and jokes. Ultimax pays more respect to how the cast are written and has better pacing than Arena, but it still falls under a pretty redundant, predictable, and heavy-handed overall storytelling procedure. Not unlike the villain, Sho, I became rather fatigued by the end of it because of how much the phrases â€œfriendsâ€ and â€œbondsâ€ were regurgitated, almost as if Tetsuya Nomura fed them lines in the script.
At the end of the day, though, I still really enjoy Persona 4 Arena Ultimax as a fighter. It“s frenetic, very stylish, visually stunning, has tight controls that are easy to learn, and Ultimax is just a ton of fun to play almost regardless of skill level. Of course, there is a lot of depth to it in spite of its more intended approachable design. But, as most who know about series are probably already aware of those things and are wondering what is actually new with this release. What is new aside from the storytelling is the changes to modes, additional characters, general re-balancing, shadow forms, and a ton of fanservice laced throughout.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax has at this point gotten pretty close to having almost every main character from P3/P4 playable with few exceptions. Most of the new characters play quite varied and bolster the roster by eight more from P4A, three of which are technically DLC. In the game by default are new characters like archer/actress Yukari; the enthusiastic baseball coach Junpei; the duo of the spear-user Ken and his knife-wielding dog companion Koromaru; the bubbly idol Rise; and lastly, the villain figure (shadow) Sho Minazuki, who teleports around and slashes foes with his dual katanas. From a roster that was arguably too small in P4A, the new characters serve as very welcome and enjoyable additions in Ultimax, even those unfortunately relegated to paid DLC. Atlus USA also went the extra mile during localization by bringing English voice talents from the original RPGs, which hits a soft nostalgic place for me as a fan.
It is a shame that the Shadow characters and (normal) Sho Minazuki are not as interesting or, arguably, as enjoyable as the main cast. Shadow characters are basically clones that play as faster, but generally weaker, versions of most characters with a new combo-centric mechanic called â€œShadow Frenzyâ€. Despite some occasionally neat stuff, like special intro/victory poses, most Shadow characters feel like an afterthought and are generally just less viable to play as in the current release.
Due to narrative context, there are also two versions of the character called Sho Minazuki. Unlike the character Labrys, who has a counterpart that plays fundamentally different, (normal) Sho Minazuki and (shadow) Sho Minazuki don't exactly feel that way. (Normal) Sho Minazuki doesn“t have a persona and feels really out of place because of it, especially when (shadow) Sho Minazuki has a relatively similar moveset, in addition to a fairly cool Persona which changes it up a lot.
Online play in Ultimax is structured pretty much identically to Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma“s, which is a very good thing. The nifty lobby structure returns, which has custom player avatars roam around a virtual arcade, and also initiating specific ranked/player matches is still pretty seamless as you play the other modes (except story, unfortunately). Thankfully, the netcode is still excellent and, like the original, is the best I have ever seen in a 2D fighter. One cool aspect that sort of stood out to me is that certain unlocks also occur as you are playing online matches, so players don't have to complete the fiendish Score Attack modeâ€¦ as much for extra content.
Aside from netplay enhancements, the only mode that is actually completely new is Golden Arena. This mode brings an RPG progression to what would otherwise seem like a standard survival mode in other titles. Just like the RPGs you can level up and distribute stats, as well choose which passive abilities you want to slot in with a lot of familiar Shin Megami Tensei spell/skill names. It is presented in a nostalgic way, but I wish it had more variety overall, opposed to pure back to back fighting with the occasional "level-up", since it feels like it has a lot of potential as an interesting time-sink.
Every other mode is what you'd expect from most fighters and have received fairly subtle to negligible changes; the only difference that stood out to me was that Score Attack is no longer purely unapologetic SNK Boss Syndrome and has now toggleable difficulties. That said, my favorite, seemingly throwaway detail added to the options is being able to change the main menu as well as online lobby music to the fairly huge song selection from both P3/P4 as well as the original Arena and Ultimax tracks.
To this date, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax remains as easily one the strongest examples of a licensed property in a fighting game space. Your mileage may vary from what you get out of the in-depth visual novel storytelling, even as a fan of the RPGs, but in every other regard it is more than up to snuff as a fighter considering the high quality bar of its source material. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax doesn't boldly go past the original foundation too much as a whole, but it still proves itself as quite a thoroughly enjoyable fighter.
Pros:
+ Very frenetic, accessible, and yet surprisingly deep core gameplay
+ Most new characters are very fun to play
+ Better storytelling than Persona 4 Arena
+ Online play is well-designed and overall netcode is excellent
Cons:
- Storytelling is predictable and heavy-handed
- Shadow characters and (normal) Sho Minazuki don't add much to the game
- Golden Arena mode could be more fleshed out
Overall Score: 8.5 (out of 10)
Great
While not necessarily the biggest step forward in terms of overall content, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax should delight series fans, both old and new, as a worthwhile enhanced release of an already great fighter.
Disclosure: This game was reviewed using downloadable PS3 code provided by the publisher.

Another month, another set of new PlayStation Plus Instant Games for subscribers to play. This month sees a few big games hitting the lineup, including one of the first big exclusives on PS Plus for PlayStation 4 owners.
Here's what you can expect to download and play in October-
PS4
Dust: An Elysian Tale (to read our official review, click here)
Spelunky (Cross-buy)
DriveClub PlayStation Plus Edition
PS3
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
PS Vita
Pix the Cat (PSV/PS4)
Rainbow Moon (PSV/PS3) (to read our official review, click here)
It's worth noting that DriveClub PlayStation Plus Edition features unrestricted access both online and offline to 11 tracks of India and 10 cars for your garage, according to the PlayStation Blog. However, if you want all the content, you'll have to purchase the full game.
Check out the video below for more info/footage on the games.
http://youtu.be/nqJwE7_nIpY
Source: PlayStation Blog
Are you interested in any of the PlayStation Plus lineup for October? Which do you plan to play?

Developer: Examu
Publisher: Aksys
Platforms: PS Vita and PS3
Release Date: September 23, 2014
ESRB: T for Teen
This review is based on the PS3 version of the game
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you combined underaged anime girls with the power of ancient deities, and also gave them all the ability to fly? Honestly, I haven“t, since it sounds horrifying, but if I were to wager a guess, Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!! is what the developer Examu came up with when mixing those elements together. Examu may not have a whole lot of consistency as a fighting game developer, but the Arcana Heart series has its place as a strange gem among anime-ish fighters despite its anime-pandering motif. Now, more than three years since the first version of Arcana Heart 3 launched, Examu decided to update their former release with Love Max on both PS3 and Vita.
If you have never played Arcana Heart before, it may seem daunting because of how different it feels from most fighting games. For instance, the primary means of movement is not by double-tapping forward or back (but it's there), but tapping the homing/glide button to fly directly to your opponent. Arcana Heart is kind of a beast of its own with its relatively unique systems that have an emphasis on gliding, arcana, clashing, and more, all in the midst of what would otherwise seem like standard fare for a 2D fighter.
Mechanically speaking, Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!! is actually a good game at its core. The cast of characters play quite varied: like Scharlachrot, who uses lengthy chains to both detonate traps and to traverse to battlefield; Zenia, who has skills that can destroy an opponent's guard if timed perfectly; or Kamui, who sacrifices to her health to strengthen her swords(wo)man abilities. There are a lot of mechanical nuances to take in and this isn't even going into the Arcana system which helps make the series feel even more distinct.
Even now the Arcana system is something I would like to see other fighters, like the Persona 4 Arena series, try to copy. Arcana are essentially interchangeable summons that can fundamentally change a character's playstyle, from the skills they have available to even general movement. For example, the literal moe blob (Kira), is a grappler with poor movement and limited range options, but you can change her Arcana to negate her shortcomings. If you wanted to, you could change Moe Blob's Arcana to Metal, which allows her strong ranged skills in addition to her already intimidating close range skills, or you could directly increase her mobility with the Evil Arcana which allows her to teleport. There are many Arcana combinations and it is completely up to one“s playstyle in how they want to make them work with each character.
Taking a cue from Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma, the newest modification to the central gameplay is how it plays much faster than the original Arcana Heart 3 release. The primary problem with earlier games is that they played fairly slow in sharp contrast to the mobility and options the characters are given. That said, modifying the in-game speed is kind of the only aspect that they have gone out of their way to improve in Love Max beyond character re-balancing. The 2D visuals have shown their age and they still come as a product of SD fidelity. It is also disappointing that there are no new characters at all, or even Arcana, giving a strong feeling of re-release syndrome for anybody who has played the previous release.
While mechanically solid in combat, everything about Arcana Heart's character designs screams shameless anime pandering or a tired character archetype of some sort. Normally I wouldn't draw too much attention to this had they not introduced a completely unnecessary â€œAfter Storyâ€ visual novel component to Love Max. You could infer that the storytelling wasn“t very good from the arcade mode in earlier games (re-titled "story" in this release), but â€œAfter Storyâ€ somehow found a way to make it much worse and take significantly longer to complete. If you want a summary of it, the entire â€œplotâ€ builds up towards a hot springs scene, and that“s how it ends as well. There is no greater context, or real reward for completing it, it was pretty much made for a perverted CG panel at the end and to emphasize how pretty much the entire cast of characters are incredibly vapid. Ugh, I regret of all my time with it.
Trying to ignore the pain that â€œAfter Storyâ€ induces, there is not a whole lot added to Love Max from the original release of 3. If you“re a masochist you could go out of your way to watch new story scenes and 100% the gallery, but aside from that the mode selection is pretty bare bones and the new ones, like Trial and Time Attack, are quite underwhelming. More disappointing is that key modes you would expect from most fighters are merely just serviceable. The online play is functional but not great, training mode is alright but doesn't really go the extra mile like Capcom, Arc System Works, or Lab Zero fighters, and lastly, the tutorial is... no wait, there is no tutorial. I always find it to be a real shame when fighting games do not have tutorials, in particular for something like Love Max that has so many systems and character specific nuances to learn and it does absolutely nothing to draw in a new crowd beyond adding a button-mash friendly "simple" mode.
Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!! is a solid game for those who can overlook its presentation and adjust to its obtuse mechanics, but as a re-release it is completely underwhelming. There are no new characters, Arcana, and most of the new modes are not noteworthy in the slightest, with the newly-added â€œAfter Storyâ€ having been better off not existing at all. The core game is faster and more enjoyable, but as a complete package it does very little to invite newcomers or, regrettably, series veterans who aren't the most devout fans.
Pros:
+ Diverse cast of playable characters
+ Much-faster and more enjoyable gameplay from previous releases
+ Unique gliding and versatile arcana fighting mechanics
Cons:
- No new characters or Arcana added since the original Arcana Heart 3 release
- Awful "After Story" mode that is a complete waste of time
- Dated aesthetic and unappealing character designs
-Sparse amount of modes and options to draw in new players
Overall Score: 6.5 (out of 10)
Decent
A mechanically solid fighter that is unfortunately held back by its lackluster overall package as a re-release
Disclosure: This game was reviewed using downloadable PS3 code provided by the publisher.

Ever since video games were first introduced to the masses well over one hundred years ago, the people working behind the scenes on them have been tasked with a never ending mission to make those games even more amazing than anyone ever thought possible.
And so far, they've done a pretty great job at that. But the people behind the scenes of the behind the scenes people? They seem to hate you but love your money, and will stop at nothing to take it from you.
With that in mind, let's take a look at some games released in the last decade that could end up costing you a fortune in the event that you wanted to own the full game for some reason. But who really wants that?
Team Fortress 2
Surely this will protect me from snipers.
In development for nearly a decade, Team Fortress 2 finally saw it's release in 2007 with it's inclusion in Valve's Orange Box bundle. The game saw a constant stream of updates over the years that added new weapons, levels, the ability to craft items and most importantly, hats. While normal players are able to craft most hats with enough time and effort, there are special hats known as Unusuals. The only way to get an unusual is to pay actual money to get a key which is then used to open a randomly dropped box to have an extremely slim chance at getting one.
These unusual hats are identical to normal hats, except for the fact that they're given one random visual effect. These can range from smiley faces to flames shooting from your character's head. Some of these effects are rarer than others and make them even more desired. Why is all of this so important? Well, Valve released a store where you can use real money to buy these unusual hats from other people instead of going through hundreds of keys looking for your own random drop. These hats can range in price from about fifty dollars up to a few thousand each. If you wanted to own every single hat in the game, you could either drop the cost of a house on the virtual market, or gamble it all on keys that cost $2 a piece and just hope you get them before you run out of money.
Dead or Alive 5
Hey, I'm not happy about this either.
Now, I've got no problem with fan service. If you want your character running around in a bikini or loincloth, then so be it. But there comes a point where people start to realize that you're really milking it, and that can't be more obvious than with the game Dead or Alive 5. In the old times before downloadable content you would have more than twenty costumes waiting on the disc for the playable characters. Of course, that wasn't always the case, but the fact is that they came included with no strings attached.
With Dead or Alive 5, this changed drastically. The average character had about seven costumes in the newest release of the series which was understandable due to the new engine being used and all of the assets being remade. But then came the DLC costumes. Just around $115 worth the first time around. Including the cost of the game, that is $175 altogether. Then Team Ninja went and released Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate. The same game with added costumes and game balancing tweaks. Instead of making this an addon or DLC pack in itself, it was considered a totally new game. So if you bought that $60 version, you officially no longer mattered.
To get access to the rest of the game, you now needed to spend an extra $40 for stuff you already bought with a few extras thrown in. Then began the second round of DLC costumes. It is difficult to add up just how much these new ones cost because of different bundles containing the same costumes multiple times and as of yet unreleased DLC, but the number is already over $250. That is after buying what was supposed to be the ultimate version of the game that included everything!
NOTE: These prices were obtained by going through the PlayStation 3's digital store and adding the cost together manually.
Dungeon Keeper
EA still thinks this is something to strive for.
Back in the 90's, Bullfrog was a niche studio that pumped out some of the best city management games ever created. Theme Hospital, Startopia, and of course, Dungeon Keeper. Electronic Arts saw this company of plucky do-gooders and promptly destroyed them for no reason at all. Thanks a lot for ruining everything as always, EA. But there was a glimmer in this story of death and destruction. Dungeon Keeper actually got it's long awaited sequel in Dungeon Keeper 2!
Only, it was on iOS devices and terrible in every single conceivable way. Garnering an impressive zero out of a possible ten on it's review, I've never seen a fanbase react so poorly to a game before, not even a truly awful game like Big Rigs is as hated as the new Dungeon Keeper, and for good reason. At least Big Rigs understood it was one of the worst games ever and embraced it's fate. EA is just covering it's ears and ignoring everyone's criticisms. And what criticisms are those?
Once again micro-transactions rears its ugly head. In an effort to squeeze every bit of dollar out of players, it takes actual real life hours for you to complete even the most simple task, and the only way around this time barrier is to spend gems. Gems of course cost real money, and the cost of about 100 actions is $60. Don't want to spend $60 for an hour or two of gameplay? Then just the act of clearing out eight blocks will take you as long as 48 hours. That is before you even start building the room. Do yourself a favor and just buy the original Dungeon Keeper games. They're less than $12 combined and hours of fun.
The Sim 3
Sims 2 Pets? Sims 3 Pets?! Its the same thing! I invented the piano key necktie! I invented it!
Have you ever wanted complete control over someone else's life, but didn't want to have to deal with all that stalking and law breaking stuff? Well then, The Sims series is absolutely for you. In the span of a few hours you can raise an entire family and then laugh as you lock one of your eighteen sons in a windowless room so Death can't take him from you. Or you can go to college, there's that too. At least if you're willing to pay, that is.
The Sims series has been no stranger to add-ons and expansions. Going all the way back to the year 2000, the original Sims saw seven expansion packs before The Sims 2 released. The Sims 2 was then followed by eight expansions. The Sims 3, however, has seen a whopping eleven expansion packs so far, and it is currently unknown if it will get more before The Sims 4 releases with it's own series of expansions that will end up being nearly identical to the expansions released for the last Sims game. Now, just how much do all these expansions end up costing the average gamer?
Try an amazing total of $370. All money spent to watch your fake family go to new towns and do new things. Money that could have easily been spent doing new and cool things with your real family. Of course I'm not one to judge, seeing as I have most of those expansions myself... but you get the point. It is a lot to spend on just making your ants happy.
Rock Band
A fake guitar made to look like another fake guitar.
If you have a closet filled with tiny plastic instruments, then you probably know about the music game fad that hit in the mid 2000's with games like Guitar Hero and, of course, Rock Band. While you probably hung up your guitar years ago, the genre is still going strong and new DLC was released on a weekly basis for the games up until a short while ago. Remember, I said that this fad started in the mid 2000's. That's a lot of weeks passing by with new songs coming out. Just how many songs can you buy?!
While the Rock Band series has stopped releasing DLC, they left behind a list of DLC that numbers in the thousands. And with each song averaging a price of $2 each you can see why this is going to get expensive, very very quickly. Of course, you also have to buy the instruments that come with each iteration of the game and pay a fee to get the songs you already bought for the previous game into the new one so the price you have to pay is rising all the time. Thankfully, you don't have to buy all these songs, but if you want the full Rock Band experience, be ready to shell out close to three thousand dollars on songs alone. At that point I'd suggest just buying a real guitar and getting lessons.
EVE Online
We're all having so much fun!
Let's raise the stakes, shall we? EVE Online is a massively multiplayer online game that puts you in the seat of your very own ship to do whatever you want to do in the galaxy. What this means is that you'll be mining a whole lot and hoping that pirates don't wipe you off the Galactic map because, of course, there are pirates. It's space we're talking about here. The special thing about EVE Online, however, is the fact that it has a real money system. The profits you make in the game can be converted to real world funds and vice versa, though the exchange rate of in-game funds is obviously far less than USD worth. But if you do well enough in the game, you can actually make yourself wealthy in the real world as well.
While that sounds great, it also means that things in the game can have real world prices as well. Say, a heavily guarded ship filled with supplies could be worth more than fifteen thousand dollars. If it gets blown up, that is $15,000 down the drain with no way of getting it back. Things like this happen a lot in the game of EVE Online, and just recently a very large war broke out. The game's stock market momentarily nose dived as two factions fought it out in the cold dark reaches of space.
At the moment, their battle has cost the two sides the insanely high sum of nearly $300,000 in real money. This is due to all of the supplies and ships being sent out to battle. Each ship has a real cost, and the most powerful can get into the tens of thousands of dollars. When one of those goes, its a big deal. And quite a few have been lost already. There is no other game in existence that can boast that wars actually have an impact on the userbase in the same way that EVE does, and that is why it is so fantastic. Do you want to become an intergalactic spice baron? Then be prepared to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm sure it'll be worth it. As always, thanks for reading.

Hey guys, for those of you looking forward to the awesome anime fighter, here's a new trailer they just released. There's still no word on other countries getting it, so let's hope we'll hear more about it soon! In the mean time, enjoy a trailer of your favorite anime character beating the crap out of each other...and Akira and Pai from Virtua Fighter.

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